Featuring tweets this week by, among others, Cindy McCain, Greg Stanton, Andy Barr, Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner, Joe Arpaio, Jeff Flake, Grant Woods, Javier Soto and Kristin Anderson, Paul Babeu and Alice Cooper
By Mike Saucier (@MikeTheSauce)
Anyone even vaguely familiar with Twitter knows that the lifespan of a tweet can be very brief, unless of course it’s a regrettable tweet, which lives on in embarrassing electronic eternity. But most tweets die a quick death in terms of how much interest they hold in the mere hours or minutes after they hit the Twitterverse.
By their construct, tweets are sub-140-character reactions and commentary on something happening just about right now. The thinking here was that there was some merit and inherent entertainment value (debatable of course) in unscientifically curating tweets and bringing them back to life, albeit at the end of the week. That’s the purpose of this column. I will track–with understandable human time and volume limitations–Arizona tweets from movers and shakers in the halls of government, the sports world, newsrooms, public relations, the commentariat, business and enterprise, entertainment, the restaurant and nightlife scene, and arenas in between.
Unscientific is the operative term here. Tweet selection is based on a range of factors including but not limited to: it being clever, timely, funny, spot-on, insightful, provocative, sweet, moving, uplifting, simply entertaining or life-affirming. All according to, well, me. Variable conditions apply here—if I didn’t see it, I couldn’t capture a tweet’s poignant brilliance.
With that, let’s look at The Week in Tweets.
First up, Cindy McCain (@CindyhM1), the wife of Sen. John McCain. On Sept. 12, she tweeted, “Why did Obama leave the White House today to campaign? Could he not fundraise the day of such serious foreign policy problems? Leadership?” Of course, this was the day after the Libyan attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, resulting in four American deaths, including that of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens. No matter your political stripes, it was a fair question to be asked.
A few days later Mrs. McCain, whose Twitter bio reads “Wife of Senator John McCain, Blue Star Mother, Business Owner, Humanitarian” and boasts 12,000+ followers, tweeted what was emerging as an Internet heart-melter. She tweeted, “I was moved to tears!” and linked to a Buzzfeed.com post depicting in photos the heartbreaking and uplifting love story which can best be appreciated by viewing: http://bit.ly/QcwwIg.
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Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton (@MayorStanton)will try to find out what it’s like to live on food stamps: “I am taking the #SNAP challenge to get a better understanding of the struggle to get by on food stamps – $29/week for food. Stay tuned.”
It would be cool to see him do it for a whole year.
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Andy Barr (@AndyBarr34) was quick to pounce on the Mitt Romney comments at a private reception with wealthy donors– where he was secretly recorded describing how his campaign would not try to appeal to 47 percent of the people who will vote for President Obama. Barr, communications director for the Richard Carmona campaign for U.S. Senate tweeted: “Question: does @FlakeforSenate also think 47% of Americans see themselves as ‘victims’?”
Carmona is the Democratic candidate of course.
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Now, this tweet is your basic news story/news website content promotion. Brevity is sometimes better but it would have been nice to see this one run longer. It’s a great question from the Arizona Republic (@azcentral) linking to AZ Talk, hosted by Joanna Allhands, http://bit.ly/NyVzIi: “With a record 73,373 students this semester, #ASU is the nation’s largest university. Has it gotten too big?”
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Reporter/anchor and lively tweeter Javier Soto (@JavierSotoTV) of 3TV made a valid and universal point when he tweeted his 5,000+ followers on Sept. 17: “Contrary to belief, if you trip & fall & nobody is looking…..it’s still EMBARRASSING :)”
True enough.
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The still-hard-to-believe win by the Cardinals over the Patriots produced the expected wide range of emotions across the Twittersphere here.
Before the game, Ryan Winn (@rrwinn) , who is a “sports copy editor at the Arizona Republic, IU alum and Chicago-native Patriots fan,” tweeted the following: “Saw a comment on @azcsports predicting #Cards beat #Pats 13-6. I’m all for fan optimism, but….” Who can blame him? I doubt many disagreed with Ryan’s assessment at the time, which made the 20-18 upset all the more shocking.
Diamondbacks minor league pitcher Charles Brewer (@CharlesBrewerAZ), a Paradise Valley-born young righty, captured the moment in his tweet on Sunday: “The @AZCardinals just beat the New England @Patriots….LOL WHAT?”
And former Cardinals QB great Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner), who knows a few things about big wins, tweeted soon after the game to his 278,500 followers: “Man, why we love the NFL… U just never know! How’s it go “Any Given Sunday”! Love it… Shout out 2 my Cards buddies, HUGE win! #fb”
Warner was also the source of quite the forthright tweet after being approached by autograph seekers. “I always try 2 sign 4 fans… But when ambushed in airport @ 9pm by ppl who r going 2 sell them (after LONG day), just couldn’t do it! #fb,” he lamented.
You have to love the reaction by Larry Fitzgerald (@LarryFitzgerald), the star receiver for the Cardinals, who tweeted to his more than 1.3 million followers after the game: “Big win 4 the @Cardinals 2day what a nail bitter. Even more exciting 2nite HBO season 3 of Board Walk Empire can’t wait to get home 2 c it.”
Fitzgerald tweeted, with pic, about his stint with the Phoenix Symphony later in the week: “Great time this morn practicing with @PhoenixSymphony. Looking 4ward to Thurs night’s brief stint as a guest conductor. pic.twitter.com/AqYsAaO4”
The reactions to one of the biggest upsets in the team’s history rolled into the next day, including criticism of the local paper’s play of the event.
Mathew Blades (@MathewBlades), Coyotes emcee and 96.9 radio host, raised a valid point with this tweet: “Really? @AZCardinals beats the #Pats and THIS is the front page of the paper? pic.twitter.com/06SO6zwa”
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Shifting sports to basketball, Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619), a forward for the Suns is apparently very excited about the “Superfood Nutrition Extractor” device called NutriBullet. “Just got my @thenutribullet in the mail! Been hearing good things, Cant wait!! Thanks again @thenutribullet,” http://lockerz.com/s/245591933, he tweeted.
After the Suns announced yesterday that forward Channing Frye (@Channing_Frye) will be out until at least December following a diagnosis of an enlarged heart, Frye, who played at the University of Arizona, tweeted to his 23,000+ followers, “‘Everything happens for a reason’ is a tough pill to swallow sometimes.”
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And finally, closing the loop on sports, Twitter plaudits were showered on much-beloved Coyotes captain Shane Doan after the news hit of his signing with the team for $21.2 million over four years. The former state attorney general, Grant Woods (@GrantWoods), summing up local sentiment, tweeted, “Thank you Shane Doan! A true local hero. And how refreshing that Shane is loyal to more than the dollar. Family, community and team count.”
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Fox10’s Kristin Anderson (@KristinFox10) is having some difficulties with creepy types in area grocery stores. She tweeted to her 3,700+ followers: “Another CREEPO at the grocery store. Maybe I’m the one who’s crazy. Maybe I do indeed look like a piece of juicy meat. No brain, just meat.”
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Speaking of creepy, Alice Cooper (@RealAliceCooper) is looking forward to Halloween Horror Nights 22 at Universal Orlando, which promotes “the demented mind of Alice Cooper,” among other scary stuff at “the nation’s premier annual Halloween event, now in its 22nd year.” Cooper tweeted, “Only 8 more days until the wicked nightmares of @RealAliceCooper take over @UORHHN! #HHN22 pic.twitter.com/My0IcZrM”
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Back to politics. On Friday, state House Speaker Andy Tobin (@AndyTobin) tweeted, “Sen Rick Santorum came to Phoenix last night to speak to a sold out crowd to promote life. Seems the media can’t bring itself to report it.”
He’s not 100 percent accurate but his sentiment is not entirely misplaced. Radio 550 KFYI did report it: http://bit.ly/SDzDc8. And the Phoenix New Times previewed it, although mockingly: http://bit.ly/QDRDUo. But you would think with the presidential race going full throttle that one of Mitt Romney’s strongest primary opponents coming to town would receive more coverage. That said, media outlets are hurting all over and there are only so many reporters available to cover so many events. In a newsroom with scaled-back resources, I can easily see this getting skipped, especially if there was competing news. In a perfect world, it would not have been ignored.
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Speaking of the New Times, this Tweet from its food blog (@ChowBellaPHX) made its point loud and clear and funny with its tweet/headline: “Hooters Looking to Attract More Female Customers — Here’s an Idea, Change Your Flippin’ Name: http://bit.ly/PARdAG”
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Shaun McKinnon (@ShaunMcKinnon), who covers water, climate and environmental issues for the Arizona Republic, tweeted this observation last Friday:
“Not often this is true: Temp at 2 pm in Phoenix: 93. In San Diego: 106. #azwx #cawx”
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Michel Marizco (@borderreporter), referencing the Border Patrol station named after Brian Terry this week, tweeted: “Robert Heyer speaks for Terry’s family: I can only imagine Brian walking around this new facility.” His bio says Marizco covers news “that crossed the line for the public radio news network, @fronterasdesk” and he lives “on the concourse of the U.S.-Mexico border.”
Friends and family of Terry traveled to attend a benefit dinner Monday night in Tucson. The Border Patrol station in Bisbee was officially renamed in honor of the slain agent.
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The middle of the week brought terrible news and the reaction on Twitter was shock and sadness.
Shawnna L.M. Bolick (@slmbolick), president of Arizonans for Government Efficiency and “AZ fiscal #conservative activist,” tweeted about the death of Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever: “My favorite #AZ sheriff lost his life. #RIPSheriffDever” and linked to the Daily Sun story, http://bit.ly/RvrtI0
And this from the Southern Arizona Cattlemen (@sacpaaz): “Our condolences and prayers for the family and friends of Sheriff Dever, and the entire border community. He was an outstanding sheriff.”
From Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu (@PaulBabeuAZ): “I’m shocked and saddened to hear of Larry Dever’s death, he was my friend, a leader on border security and leader… http://fb.me/1GieMyIYT
From Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (@RealSheriffJoe): “My condolences go out to the family of Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever. His death is a big loss to the law enforcement community.”
From Jim Sharpe (@JimSharpe) of NewsTalk 550 KFYI: “RIP, Sheriff Larry Dever – the most authentic lawman I ever met. HE protected ALL the residents of his native Cochise County.”
And from Rep. Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake), Republican candidate for U.S. Senate: “We will remember Larry Dever as the rugged sheriff, the consummate lawman. Thoughts and prayers are w/his family during this difficult time.”
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Let’s leave on a lighter note. Courtney Childress (@CourtChildress), director of communications at Arizona Foothills magazine and “ASU Alum, journalist at heart, sports lover, and Diet Pepsi addict,” tweeted yesterday, “Love my high heels… but dang my feet hurt. #professional #classy”
